Oswalt, Astros continue surge with rout of Pirates

Sep 12, 2008 - 4:37 AM
HOUSTON (Ticker) -- Even though there is much ground yet to
cover in the National League wild card race, the Houston Astros'
amazing second-half run could make the playoff chase very
interesting over the final two-plus weeks of the season.

Roy Oswalt tossed a three-hitter and the Astros continued their
incredible play since the All-Star break with a 6-0 victory over
the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday.

After a loss on August 26 to Cincinnati, Houston (80-67) fell 11
games behind Milwaukee (83-64) in the wild card race.

Since that setback, the Astros have chopped eight games off the
Brewers' lead by winning 14 of their next 15 contests. They are
13 games over .500 for the first time since finishing the 2005
season with a 89-73 mark.

Houston's late push, during which it is a major league-best
36-16 since the All-Star break, is all the more unlikely
considering the Astros have been without cleanup hitter Carlos
Lee since August 9 because of a fractured left finger.

In recent days, Houston has also had to prepare for Hurricane
Ike, which is expected to strike the city this weekend and has
already caused the postponement of several college and
professional games, including the first two scheduled games of
the Astros' three-game weekend series against the Chicago Cubs.

Although south Texas has more pressing concerns, Oswalt did his
part to give the sparse Minute Maid Park crowd something else to
think about other than swirling winds as he needed just 90
pitches and recorded 19 groundball outs to record his fourth
straight win in a game that lasted only two hours and nine
minutes.

"I was trying to make it as quick as possible so I could get
home," Oswalt said jokingly. "Somebody said there was a
hurricane on the way, so I was trying to be as quick as
possible."

"Maybe it gave them something to forget about their troubles,"
Astros manager Cecil Cooper said. "It's good for the city, and
it's good for everybody. I even forgot about things that were
surrounding us and watched Roy work. It was pretty special."

After surrendering a hit to the second batter of the game,
Oswalt toyed with the Pirates until the eighth when Doug
Mientkiewicz ended a stretch in which the righthander recorded
21 straight outs. Rookie Luis Cruz also singled in the ninth,
but all three Pirates' hits were followed by inning-ending
double plays one batter later.

Much of the credit for Houston's late success can be given to
Oswalt (15-9), who continued his second-half resurgence in this
game, following a one-hit shutout in Colorado in his last outing
with Thursday's four-strikeout performance.

"He actually wasn't as good today," Houston catcher Brad Ausmus
said. "He was good, but he wasn't as good as his last start.
He was jumping out a little bit. Not a lot, but enough. He
didn't have quite the command of his fastball, but still, Roy
was still 95 percent of his best, which is better than 99
percent of the league."

The three-time All-Star, who is 8-1 with a 1.94 ERA since the
break, faced the minimum 27 hitters and extended his scoreless
streak to 32 1/3 innings.

"I don't know how to describe it," Cooper said. "Last time, it
was magnificent. Tonight, just awesome. Roy was sensational."

The scoreless innings streak broke the Astros' team mark of 31
set by J.R. Richard, who did so from May 26 - June 11, 1980.

Fortune smiled on Houston in the third inning as it scored a run
without the benefit of hitting the ball out of the infield.

Reggie Abercrombie opened the inning with a bunt and took third
when Zach Duke threw wildly to first in his attempt to retire
the runner. Two batters later, Oswalt drove in Abercrombie on a
suicide squeeze play.

"It's a do-or-die thing," said Duke of the rush to beat
Abercrombie with the throw. "I wish I had released it just a
little bit earlier. I take a lot of pride in my fielding and
that one hurts. That was kind of the turning point in the
game."

The Astros finally got to Duke (5-14) in the fifth, scoring five
times off the lefthander as each of the first five batters
reached base to begin the inning, highlighted by RBI singles
from Abercrombie and Oswalt. Darin Erstad and Mark Loretta each
drove in a run apiece before Miguel Tejada completed the
outburst with a run-scoring double.